Judges reverse decision to cut Coast court

"I can tell you today that we will not reduce court services in Ten Mile Court as planned. I hope you heard the last two words, 'as planned,'" Judge Rick Henderson told an overpacked Town Hall Nov. 29. "The main reason was the strength and breadth of the objections that we got from all of you."

With all seats full, several people stood on their toes in inclement weather outside Town Hall, trying to hear what was happening inside.

The community-wide response started almost immediately after Mendocino County Superior Court's Oct. 30 announcement that the Fort Bragg Ten Mile Court branch would face several reductions and "no longer conduct hearings in criminal felony and juvenile matters." Jury trials and in-custody matters were also slated for elimination.

Judge Henderson, presiding Judge of Mendocino County court, spoke for county judges and staff. Judge Dave Nelson was in San Diego at a meeting, but judges Ann Moorman, John A. Behnke, David Riemenschneider, Cindee Mayfield, Jeanine Nadel and Clayton Brennan were at the meeting.

In his opening comments, Judge Henderson incited laughter and applause by saying, "If any of you wanted the judges to experience, firsthand, the problems of driving over the hill during ... (applause). It rained solidly all the way from Ukiah until about Camp 19."

The motive behind

the cuts

"We knew from the beginning that it would impose some hardship to people on the Coast," Judge Henderson said. "We knew the decision would be unpopular."

According to Judge Henderson, none of the judges wanted to close the Coastal courts, and that budget cuts were made for financial reasons.

He said budget and cash flow are the two foremost problems faced by the court system. He explained the governor and state Legislature set aside a flat amount of funding for the judicial branch and is used to run 58 county courts, the appellate court, supreme court and court administrative offices. The funding is divided into categories and allocated to each of the 58 counties.

"Our court is not involved in the discussions that result in the amount of money we get in Mendocino County," he said. "When we do get that amount of money, it's up to the eight judges and the court executive officer to set a budget for the court."

Noting that all the information is available online, Judge Henderson said the current fiscal year budget is $5.6 million.

"We do get some additional money that comes from grants or miscellaneous sources," he said. "That might account for 5 to 10 percent of our budget." Using slides, Judge Henderson showed that from 2008 to 2011, the court budget was reduced 26.9 percent and 9 percent more in 2012/2013. The court has already received its 2013/2014 budget, which came in at 4.5 million, making a total reduction of 46.8 percent since 2008.

"That's the nature of the problem we're faced with," Judge Henderson said. "So we sit down and try to figure out, as judges, where we can cut."

Salaries come to 81.2 percent of expenditures, he explained.

He said it would be hard to realize any savings by cutting security, general expenses facility operations or information technologies from the budget.

"If we make budget cuts, which we have to do, we almost have to go primarily to the area of personnel," Judge Henderson said, explaining a diagram showing cuts made since 2008. "Our aim has been to not reduce services in court, so what we've done is cut people from administration and cut people with higher salaries." Full-time positions were reduced from 78 in 2008 to 55 presently, a 29 percent reduction. This year alone, the court realized $491,289 in reductions through eliminating and reclassifying certain positions. Judge Henderson said those cuts resulted in a small positive balance of $380,000.

"The reason we have that is that we're looking at the 20 percent reduction we have to make next year," he said. "We don't want to have to wait until the first day of the budget year next year and have to cut around $1 million. We are trying to keep a reserve to help carry us over."

Regarding said cash flow, Judge Henderson explained that until last year, the courts have always been able to keep a positive cash flow, allocated in several payments.

"Sometimes those payments [were] so late, we could not make payroll if we did not have a reserve," he said. "The Legislature, when they were trying to save money, prohibited the courts from maintaining a reserve of more than 1 percent, which is not sufficient to cover these shortfalls."

He said the judges are trying to meet budget expectations without restricting the level of judicial services to the community.

"When we made this decision to reduce services in Ten Mile Court, we were aware of the problems you all have in driving back and forth between Ukiah to Fort Bragg," he said. "Based on the storm of protests from individual citizens, from lawyers who practice before the court, from law enforcement, the District Attorneys Office, the mayor, City Council and the Board of Supervisors, we think we stubbed our toe on this decision."

Henderson continued, following a round of applause, saying he's received over 200 emails and many letters and phone calls opposed to the proposed reductions. He said the court has been able to secure a cash advance and some other funding.

Judge Henderson said he is, at this point, unsure how the court will make necessary reductions of about $1 million in the coming fiscal year, and that more evaluation of the situation will occur during the governor's May revise of the budget.

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